Microassist’s years of experience developing Elearning have taught us how vital project management is. Elearning projects are more complex to manage than traditional learning projects because they involve technology and training. There’s more risk, more time constraints, more budget pressures, and more potential for communication failure. We are dedicated to using our experience to help Elearning project managers find success (check out our workshop on the topic!). We’ve asked our project manager to share pet peeves as the first step to making project managers’ lives a little less stressful.
Top 10 Ways to Annoy a Project Manager
Every job has its fair share of annoyances, and project management is no exception. While I can’t speak for all of Project Managerkind, I have been asked to list my own personal high-ranking peeves. And they are…
1. Giving me too much detail when I ask a simple question.
Ninety percent of what a project manager cares about is whether a task can get done, when it will be done, if there is anything hindering it and how much it’ll cost. Making me sit through a 30 minute monologue to get this information makes me feel like I’m stuck in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Your deliverable is just one of the things I’m checking on, so please answer my questions directly. If I want more detail, I can always ask.
2. Missing your deadline—and not telling me about it.
Project managers live in the middle, right smack-dab in between clients, managers, co-workers, and vendors. As such, we’re often charged with the dicey task of committing other people’s dates to just about everyone. Failing to meet your committed deadline without fair warning is awkward, makes the team look bad, and puts me in Reputation Rescue Mode – my reputation, your reputation, and the company’s reputation as well.
Variation on a theme: Telling me at 4:45 p.m. that your deadline is toast. Thanks for saving me the trouble of asking, but I can’t do anything constructive now – except maybe call in sick tomorrow.
3. Neglecting to report a problem. Part One.
Project managers are trained to deal with all sorts of problems, from a flu that sweeps through the office to weather delays and hard drive crashes, scope creep and personnel clashes. But we can’t fix what we don’t know about. I expect to be informed when you hit a mission-critical issue, even if it’s something I can’t personally fix (like a computer crash). Trust me – if it threatens my project, I’ll rattle cages until you get what you need.
4. Neglecting to report a problem. Part Two.
I go out on a limb with this one, but … if you’re dealing with a personal trial, I’d like to be aware of that at a very high level. A good PM knows that relationships are key in getting a project done, and project managers connect with everyone. So while I really don’t want to know the details of your divorce or the tests your doctor is running, I do want to know if there is something I should know. I don’t like surprises, and I can facilitate more than you think. Use your good professional judgment.
5. Spinning the truth.
When I ask you whether or not you completed a deliverable, and your response is more than a syllable, I know you didn’t do it. Project managers don’t have time for that. Just give it to me straight and tell me what you did. Chances are good that I already know, and that’s why I’ve appeared in your doorway.
6. Getting bent out of shape when I ask when something will be done or why it isn’t done.
It’s not personal. It’s my job. Besides, you probably gave me that ETA in the first place.
7. Complaining when I say that you can’t do XYZ because there’s no budget.
An employer has hired you to solve her problems, not fulfill your creative yearnings. If the two can co-exist for the benefit of the project and do so within budget, I think that’s great. Otherwise, you’re going to have to stick to the project scope.
8. Going around me.
A project manager’s duty is to deliver a specific product in a specific time frame for a specific cost. Sometimes those specifics exist at a contractual level. Changing scope or charging expenses to a project without my approval is a big, bad no-no.
9. Moving the target.
If you ask me for something, and I deliver it, then I’ve done a good job, right? Well, if you’re a project manager, the answer is…sometimes. Change within a project happens all the time and again, good project managers know how to deal with it. But please be reasonable. If you ask me to pilot a plane to Tampa, that’s where I’m flying you. Not London, not Paris – Tampa. And if you discover that you really do need to fly elsewhere, expect additional time and expense.
10. Forgetting to thank me when I help you out.
Project managers deal with every aspect of a project – the expected, the unexpected, good, bad, ugly and just plain weird. Somewhere between the kick off meeting and the final sign off, the chances are good that I’ve covered up one or two of your sins or took a bullet for you during that 3-hour client meeting. So if you remember nothing else, please remember this: a little compassion goes a long, long way.
Contact our Learning Developers
Need to discuss developing e-learning? Creating curriculum for classroom training? Auditing and remediating e-learning for accessibility? Our learning developers would be glad to help.